Trump Organization launches Trump Mobile smartphone service
FILE PHOTO: A supporter uses his mobile phone ahead of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump's watch party in Palm Beach County Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 5, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/ File Photo
(Reuters) -The Trump Organization launched a self-branded mobile service and a $499 smartphone on Monday, dubbed Trump Mobile, signaling a new effort to court conservative consumers with a wireless service positioned as an alternative to major telecom providers.
The new mobile venture will include call centers based in the United States and phones made in America, the organization said.
The Trump family, long known for its real estate empire, luxury hotels, and golf resorts, has in recent years ventured into newer arenas including digital media and cryptocurrency.
The Trump Organization, which is the main holding entity for most of the U.S. president's business ventures, said ahead of Trump's inauguration that control of the company would be handed to his children, replicating the arrangement from his first term, though concerns about potential conflicts of interest remain.
COMMENTS:
US MEDIA, CABLE AND TELECOM EQUITY RESEARCH, BARCLAYS
"Needless to say, it is quite unprecedented for a sitting president's name to be attached to a commercial mainstream service that is regulated. None of the telecom companies have formally announced an agreement with the Trump Organization for an MVNO agreement and therefore it is not clear which entity is providing the network.
"However, telecom is a highly regulated industry and the present FCC chair has been politically close to the current administration1 and one of the co-authors of Project 2025, a wish list of administration goals and potential paths to achieving its objectives. This puts telecom companies in a tough position, as it is not clear how much negotiating leverage they really have in this situation, especially given that VZ and AT&T are both still in the process of getting deal approvals. This may also result in increased scrutiny at the state level and put operators in a politically sensitive situation. It is also possible that operators have most favored nation (MFN) clauses in their existing MVNO deals – for instance with the cable companies – which could increase risk if favorable terms are extended to the Trump Organization."
GIL LURIA, HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, D.A. DAVIDSON & CO, PORTLAND:
"The new wireless plan and handset announcement is the latest attempt by the Trump organization to capitalize on the President's popularity, much like Truth Social, the DJT stock listing and crypto endeavors."
LAWRENCE LESSIG, LAW PROFESSOR, HARVARD
"No one who has been paying attention could miss that President Trump considers the presidency a vehicle to grow his family's wealth. Maybe this example will help more come to see this undeniable truth."
PAOLO PESCATORE, TMT ANALYST, PP FORESIGHT
"This latest move raises more questions than answers. As always the devil is in the detail given that it is unclear around the actual commercial relationship with the telecom players and so forth.
"Inevitably as seen to date, we should expect to see backlash from a slew of stakeholders.
"All parties will be keeping a close eye on how this evolves."
BRIAN MULBERRY, CLIENT PORTFOLIO MANAGER, ZACKS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
"Its pointed at Apple, that's a really big downward price pressure on what Apple's trying to do."
"There's been kind of an opening for this type of device, if you will, simply because not just Apple, but Samsung devices to a certain extent as well, have really gotten so expensive in the moment in time and we haven't really seen that big of a measurable increase in utility."
"Most of the apps that you can download on a smartphone are just like super search kind of functions, if you will. So having that same functionality at half the price, there's a market out there for that."
"I think it's going to get probably some extra attention just because it has Trump's name on it but I think the marketplace has been ripe for this type of competition."
"Competition is always good for consumers and that benefits markets in general. It's going to drive people to be more productive and compete more for consumers' dollars."
DAVID WAGNER, HEAD OF EQUITIES, APTUS CAPITAL ADVISORS, CINCINNATI, OHIO
"I don't see much impact from Trump mobile across the industry, as half of it's addressable market is negated by political parties, and then from there, this industry already has a lot of stickiness to current providers. These companies need scale to work, and we'll see if the company can execute on the most important thing - consistency of network."
(Compiled by the Global Finance & Markets Breaking News team)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
22 minutes ago
- The Star
OpenAI wins $200 million US defense contract
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -ChatGPT maker OpenAI was awarded a $200 million contract to provide the U.S. Defense Department with artificial intelligence tools, the Pentagon said in a statement on Monday. "Under this award, the performer will develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains," the Pentagon said. The work will be primarily performed in and near Washington with an estimated completion date of July 2026, the Pentagon said. OpenAI said last week that its annualized revenue run rate surged to $10 billion as of June, positioning the company to hit its full-year target amid booming AI adoption. OpenAI said in March it would raise up to $40 billion in a new funding round led by SoftBank Group at a $300 billion valuation. OpenAI had 500 million weekly active users as of the end of March. The White House's Office of Management and Budget released new guidance in April directing federal agencies to ensure that the government and "the public benefit from a competitive American AI marketplace." The guidance had exempted national security and defense systems. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Star
22 minutes ago
- The Star
UK invests $340 million in clean tech for air travel
View of Airbus ZEROe hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine project at the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PARIS (Reuters) -Britain said it would invest 250 million pounds ($340 million) in technology to make air travel greener, backing research into zero-emission flying, laser-beam manufacturing and cutting aircraft drag, to help boost the country's aerospace industry. Britain said the funding for research and development projects led by Airbus, Rolls-Royce and a number of smaller companies and academic partnerships, would attract more private investment into the sector and add new jobs. Industry Minister Sarah Jones is due to announce the new funding at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday, backing a number of projects which include the development of infrastructure for testing liquid hydrogen systems, fuel cell systems and developing lightweight materials. The funding announcement came ahead of the government's industrial strategy, expected to be published later this month, and which will aim to help grow the country's defence and advanced manufacturing sectors. Jones said supporting the major contractors was "incredibly important", but the government also wanted to encourage more start-ups in the sector. "Getting the supply chain of smaller businesses ready is the challenge, and that's what we want to build up in the UK," she said in an interview. Airbus UK chairman John Harrison said the funding gave the industry the confidence and stability needed to fuel innovation. "It's initiatives like these that are absolutely critical to accelerating our decarbonisation journey and advancing sustainable, cutting-edge manufacturing," he said. ($1 = 0.7351 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle, writing by Sarah Young, editing by William James)
The Star
22 minutes ago
- The Star
SoftBank seeks to raise $4.9 billion in T-Mobile share sale, Bloomberg News reports
FILE PHOTO: A T-Mobile logo is seen on the storefront door of a store in Manhattan, New York, U.S., April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo (Reuters) -Japan's SoftBank Group Corp is looking to raise nearly $4.9 billion in an unregistered overnight block sale of T-Mobile shares, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. SoftBank is offering to sell 21.5 million shares for $224 to $228 each, Bloomberg said, citing the deal terms. Bank of America Corp is working on the deal. The sale represents a discount of more than 3% to T-Mobile's closing price of $230.99 on Monday, and the stake offered would represent about 1.9% of T-Mobile's outstanding shares, Reuters calculations showed. SoftBank and T-Mobile did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. In May, the Japanese technology investment group reported a 1.15 trillion yen ($7.94 billion) profit for the year ended March, compared with a loss of 227.6 billion yen a year earlier. SoftBank's approach of investing in high-growth technology companies is epitomized by the success of its investment in Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group as well as the bankruptcy of U.S. office-space startup WeWork. ($1 = 144.7500 yen) (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
